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A Pound Sterling
A Pound Sterling is the second page of Act 2 of Lilly's route. Transcript Saturday. My second most favorite day of the week. This is almost entirely due to the fact that it is the day with the second least amount of school, with class ending at the beginning of lunch. I open my door confidently, myself being more than confident of being able to get enjoyment out of the fine weather and shorter class length. I confidently stride down the hallway and down the stairs to the lobby of the male dorms. I confidently look behind me to see whose footsteps are approaching. I… lose my confidence in this day being enjoyable. He wraps an arm around my slumped shoulders far too comfortably. Something's up. He doesn't take my reaction to his theatrics well. Ignoring him, I walk outside and start down the steps. It doesn't take too long for him to catch up with me again. I wonder if he wants money, or to rant about another conspiracy. Maybe both. Conspiracy it is. For a moment I contemplate feigning ignorance, but realize this will go quicker if I just let him get it all out. He looks positively shocked at this development. Did he not expect me to be able to answer? He gathers himself and coughs into his fist. Dramatically, like everything he does. It's mostly true. I've only known her and Hanako for less than two weeks, and even then we've just been exchanging banal chatter about school as we while away lunch. It distresses me that someone like Kenji, who's probably as far out of the loop as one could possibly get, knows about such a trivial fact as who I choose to befriend. Then again… I am a transfer student, and she's not only the representative of their class, but also a tall blonde. Maybe I should appreciate this ranting as a warning that the rumor mill exists in this school, and that I'm firmly within it. He seems to involuntarily shudder as he says the words. Putting him and Shizune together in a room is an amusing mental exercise. I wonder if they've met. I stop walking for a moment, giving the idea more thought than I probably should. It would explain that fight the two had, at least in part. Wait, no, not really. Even leaving the Student Council would need a catalyst. In the end, it doesn't explain much at all. Other than the fact that their feud goes back some ways. I open my mouth to give the answer, but realize that I have none. In fact, I've given the matter very little thought. Given that she has no accent and acts perfectly Japanese, I suppose it never really seemed important. Now that he mentions it though, I am rather curious. I probably shouldn't resort to stereotypes, but that's the only lead I have. He brushes off the quip effortlessly. I have reason to doubt the logic of his deductions, but he shows no sign of stopping. Well, at least he's concerned for me. Kinda. I wave goodbye to him as we separate out to our respective classes, but I'm not sure that he sees the gesture. Piling my books into my bag, I catch a glimpse of the library books I'd borrowed last week. I might as well return them, considering they took all of two days to finish. I briefly consider inviting Hanako along to the library, but she's already gone. It'll probably be better for my studying if I'm alone anyway. With a quick stretch and a wave to a couple of classmates who give the same to me, I make my way out of the classroom. As I open my bag and shove the books through the returns slot in the front counter, I notice a strange person behind the desk. Old and graying, she must be Yuuko's replacement when she's working at the café. I begin looking for a free table, a task made somewhat difficult considering that, despite there not being many students in here, they're all sitting at their own tables. Noticing a familiar head of hair, I walk over to one near the Braille section. It's hard to tell whether Lilly's concentrating hard or not, her placid expression holding perfectly still as her finger slides across the dot-filled pages of her book. She trails off, evidently still focused on her business at hand. She gives a nod of greeting as I sit opposite her at the table, pluck a chemistry textbook out of my bag and quickly thumb to the chapter we're covering in class. For a while, we sit there and read, each in our own way. Seeing her reminds me of what Kenji said this morning, though. That and the fact that I've never seen someone read in Braille before makes me keep throwing glances at her. I kind of feel guilty about it, given that she has no way to realize I'm doing so, so I decide to just ask her about it. Her lineage isn't exactly a state secret, after all, and there is another thing I've only just noticed from her movements. She gives a small giggle before setting down her book. …Scottish? That was not exactly my first guess. It takes some effort to not blurt it out loud. I try to conjure images of the place in my mind. I think as far as the UK goes, Scotland isn't bad to live in… but I'm not really sure. My first guess of England was surprisingly close, at least geographically. That does leave another question though. Hold on, if she moved to the dorms simply due to Akira working longer hours… She gives a small sigh, as if she didn't expect me to go any deeper. Was her previous frankness just a front?" I feel like I'm not getting the whole story, but I don't really want to go unduly prying into her situation. Her about-face shows she feels kind of awkward about it. It takes her a moment to collect herself, appreciating the change in topic. Demand for English teachers? For a moment, I wonder why she brought this up. She gives an enthusiastic nod. It must be nice, having such a definite future in mind. I've never really given much thought to mine, so I'm kind of envious. For a moment, she's speechless. She lowers her face a little and lets out a nervous giggle, something I've never seen her do before. With Lilly's role as a class representative and her dependable nature, teaching does seem to be a line of work fitting her personality. Waving her hand in front of her face dismissively, she quickly recovers. A short, somewhat awkward silence follows the discussion. Without knowing it, I ended up steering into a troublesome topic again. I should try to cheer her up a little. It was me who went and got her brooding, after all. It might perk her up a bit, or at least take her mind off her apparently complicated family situation. Going by her smile, it seems to have the intended effect. Quite a quick redirection of the conversation. She does have a point though - the food there isn't the greatest. The ability to get more used to the layout of the city would probably be a good thing. I have barely set foot in there, so I'd be hopelessly lost by myself. She gives a nod, signaling that she happily approves of this plan for Sunday. We eventually get back to our books, though before I begin reading again I steal one last glance at her. Maybe I've been thinking on my situation too much. After all, everybody here would have their own unique circumstances. The chance to get outside and clear my head will probably do me good.